Chance Encounters
by cess525
Summary: Continuation of Jello Trip. A journey to find new technology and a look into what makes Sam and Jack who they are today. SamJack.
1. The Netherlands

Chance Encounters

Pairing: Sam/Jack

Season: After season 8

Spoilers: None, I know its a shocker

Required Reading: Jell-o Trip: it's listed in my account. Short cut; take out the spaces: www. fanfiction. net/ s/ 3507168/ 1/

Disclaimer: I own Nothing...not even my own thoughts.

A/N: Some of you might have already read chapters 1&2 as they are the same as The Great Adventure (Which used to be a long version of Jell-o trip while it was WIP) the story after chapter 2 is different. There is a reason behind the crazyness; it just takes to long to explain.

As always thanks to Wendy for the wonderful beta job :-D Gold Star :-P. Enjoy and please R&R :-)

* * *

Jack and Sam are sitting in her Amsterdam apartment, drinking coffee and making Jell-o. 

"How are the Dutch treating you?" Jack asks, as he sticks his finger into the cup of coffee he is holding. Sam looked up from mixing the liquid blue Jell-o concoction to stare at Jack.

"Just fine." Jack pulled his finger out of the coffee, shaking the imaginary dirt, from his coffee, from his finger before finally taking a sip of the hot drink.

"Daniel and Davis getting anywhere with the negotiations?" Sam took a measuring cup of cold water and poured it into the hot jell-o mix and slowly walked, with the bowl, over to the fridge, which Jack held open for her when he noticed her hands were full.

"They weren't doing so well last I heard. The Dutch really want to know why we are so eager to have access to all those locations." Sam placed the Jell-o into the fridge.

"It's not like we want to do anything…we just want to poke around," said Jack. Sam rolled her eyes at him.

"Jack we are asking for permission to look into some of their historic landmarks and put holes in the walls, looking for passageways that may or may not be there. To look for technology that might be left by people that they don't even know about."

"So, that's why we have Daniel here, to find a way to talk them into it."

"Jack, it's not going to be that easy." Sam walked back over to where she left her coffee, where her Jell-o creation station was, and took a sip before taking a seat on the stool next to Jack.

"Where did Daniel find this information again?"

"It was in another one of the books Katherine left him. Apparently it listed 10 sites in the Netherlands that this guy left hidden passageways to rooms holding great knowledge and power."

"Big honkin' space guns?" Jack butted in. Sam rolled her eyes yet again.

"Daniel showed us pictures of some of the items that should be in there." She paused for a moment to look at Jack. "You know, if you just read your report like you should have, I wouldn't have to explain this all to you."

"Oh I read it." Jack waggled his eyebrows at her and she swatted him for troubling her. Sam looked at her watch again.

"I have to meet Daniel at the Oude Kerk." Sam said, as she realized that time had gotten away from her.

"Oude Kerk?" Jack asked, as Sam started hurrying around the room looking for her shoes and purse.

"What?" She paused for a moment and then registered what he was asking. "Oude Kerk, it means Old Church. It's the oldest Church in Amsterdam."

"So you are going to tests the walls?"

"A floor actually. Daniel thinks that this one will be relatively easy to check, though I don't know since they seem to have done a massive renovation to the church from the 1950 to the 70's. Daniel has an idea of where the entrance will be and wants to check it out since it's so close." Sam found her purse and shoes, and sat back down on the kitchen stool to put her shoes on.

"Has he said what this great idea is?" Jack asked.

"He thinks it might be in one of the early graves in the church marked Anonymous." Jack looked at her in confusion as Sam stood up. Jack sat there and thought for a moment. Looked around and realized he now had nothing to do.

"Can I come along?" Sam raised her eyebrow, perplexed by him wanting to come along with them to a renovated Church. "I will be good, I promise." Jack added, throwing his hands up in a defensive position.


	2. Oude Kert

AN: Thanks to Wendy, Beta extraordinaire. Also thanks to Jann for the Dutch translations. Both of them deserve Gold Stars and a round of applause. Please R&R:-D you know feed the writer:-P. Now on with the show.

* * *

The taxi pulled up to the curb near the Oute Kert. Sam and Jack stepped out of the car to Daniel, who was already waiting for them. "Jack?" Daniel asked, perplexed. 

"Daniel?" Jack answered in a mock annoying tone.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked.

"Thought I could help." Jack answered.

Daniel looked at Jack; a little frustrated. "I mean, what are you doing in The Netherlands, Jack."

"Well you know me and old churches. I just couldn't let you and Sam have all the fun." Daniel raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Sam wanted some Jell-o."

"You couldn't just mail it?" Daniel asked, as Sam gave off a giggle. Jack glared at Sam for a moment before turning his attention back to Daniel.

"There were technical difficulties." Jack said, still looking a little flustered about the experience.

Sam, who saw that Daniel was about to start another round of questions, decided to save Jack from any further embarrassment. "Daniel, where do you think the entrance to this vault is exactly?"

"Ah see, I am not too sure about that." Daniel said, as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Daniel, do you have any idea at all where it is?" Sam asked, patiently.

"I think it is in an anonymous grave, as I told you yesterday." Daniel said, as he turned toward Sam.

"Oh well that should not be to hard." Sam stated but looking at Daniel's face she could tell he was withholding some information.

"Daniel spit it out." Jack jumped in.

"Ah, there are about 10,000 graves on the floor of the church." Daniel said.

"10,000!" Jack stated, looking at Daniel in shock. "Well good thing it's only a few graves to look at." Jack said, as he put the word few in air quote marks.

"Do you have an idea of where to start looking?" Sam asked Daniel. Daniel pulled out a map of the church he printed off, from the Internet.

"I have a feeling is it somewhere along this area." Daniel said, as pointed to an area off to the left of the church's main entrance. "I also think the Anonymous will look different from the other ones. Possibly only marked with just an 'A' or Anonymous, with no line within the 'A'."

"Ah well that _narrows_ it down." Jack stated sarcastically.

"The idea was to just start looking Jack, not to necessarily find it." Sam said, as Jack rolled his eyes.

"Well let's head out." Jack stated, and the three of them headed into the church, paying the man at the entrance, grabbing the "points of interest brochure" and walked into the main hall.

Daniel and Sam were talking amongst themselves as Jack hung back a little as they went off to the left as they entered. As they walked round Daniel and Sam were looking around and pointing out places they thought it could be while Jack was in his own thoughts. Suddenly, Sam and Daniel heard a noise and they turned in unison to see Jack face down on the floor, after apparently tripping over something.

"**Meneer, gaat alles goed?"** One of the ladies that obviously worked there called to him and was immediately by his side.

Jack grumbled for a bit and then looked up at Daniel to get a translation as he and Sam had just reached his side just after the lady had.

"Uh, she wanted to know if you were all right."

"Yeah." Jack said, as he started to stand up brushing himself off as he went.

"**Veel mensen struikelen hier.**" The lady spoke toward Daniel.

"**Echt waar?"** Daniel answered back to her.

"Daniel?" Jack asked, irritated.

"She said that they have had many people trip at that spot." Daniel replied.

"Well tell her they need to fix the problem that is there." Jack stated.

Daniel relayed Jack's statement to her and she quickly replied. "**We hebben meerdere mensen dit laten controleren maar niemand vond ooit iets."**

The lady replied as Daniel nodded his head. Jack waited a moment.

"You gonna clue us in again." Jack stated again towards Daniel.

"Oh yeah right," Daniel paused, "She said that they have had numerous people come and look at the area and they have all found nothing to cause the falls."

"Uh well there is obviously something there Daniel." Jack started as he walked back to the spot where he fell. "I did not trip over noth..." When he looked down at the area in which he had tripped over he stopped short mesmerized by something on the ground. He crouched down to get a closer look. "Sam, come over here." Jack said, while waving her over to him. Sam looked at Jack perplexed for a moment but did what he asked.

When Sam reached Jack's side she crouched down next to him as he pointed down to what caught his attention. There, on the corner of an Anonymous grave was an upside down V; big enough for someone to spot while kneeling but not big enough to easily see while walking. That was not what had Jack mesmerized however, there seemed to be text just appearing out of nowhere, on the grave.

"Wow." Sam said in amazement.

"Yeah." Jack said, as he pulled his hand through his hair. "What do you think it says?"

"I don't know." While this was happening Daniel had finished talking with the worker and was now standing behind both Sam and Jack.

"What is so interesting?" Daniel asked.

Sam and Jack both looked over their shoulders at Daniel.

"This." Sam said, as she pointed to the ever-expanding text on the grave. "What does it say?" Daniel looked at the grave then looked at them both again.

"It says Anoniem, umm, anonymous." Daniel said, while trying to figure out why they were so attracted to this grave.

"You don't see it?" Sam asked, as she looked back over at the grave along with Jack.

"See what?" Daniel asked, as he started to squint at the grave to see if he could see anything else. "All I can see is anoniem."

At that moment, Sam reached out a tentative hand to touch the writings. Jack saw her and tried to grab her hand before she touched it. He was too late, all of a sudden there was a blinding light, and Jack and Sam were gone.

Daniel blinked his eyes for a moment and looked in front of him. "Jack! Sam!" He continued to look around him before frantically going and looking for the lady from the church.

* * *

Elsewhere- 

"What are you doing here?" A strange but authoritative voice asked.


	3. Faith

_Whoever is open, loyal, true; of humane and affable demeanor; honorable himself, and in his judgment of others; faithful to his word as to law, and faithful alike to God and man...such a man is a true gentleman._

_Ralph Waldo Emerson_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" A strange but authoritative voice asked.

* * *

Jack knew what he was doing here. It was a sad day for him; it was supposed to be one of joy for his family but it had taken a turn for the worse quickly. His sister, Jeanie, was having a child, though the circumstances behind her getting pregnant were not positive, and the father was now MIA, their mother and father decided to help out in Jeanie's crises. Jack still wanted to beat up the ex-boyfriend but now he had other things on his mind. 

His mother had returned from Jeanie's bedside; their father was on a mission and wouldn't be back for a week. The baby was doing ok for now, but there were problems with Jeanie. His mother had stated lots of medical terms that he did not understand but in the end he got the idea; Jeanie was dying and if they did not get the baby out soon then the baby would die too.

So now Jack was sitting there, ticked off at the world and wanting the nightmare to be over with but at the same time waiting for news that maybe something miraculous had happened and his sister, along with her baby, would be ok.

"I will ask you again; what are you doing here?" At this Jack had to look around and see who this authoritative voice belonged to, and who this person was pointing their words toward. He looked to the left and saw a man pacing the floor. He was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He had been pacing the floor since Jack had arrived there earlier, but even he had stopped pacing at the sound of the man. Jack turned more to the left to look over his shoulder and saw them. Two men; one was sitting down, a well-dressed man with a look of shock on his face and the other man right in front of him was pointing his finger at the well-dressed mans face, and he was wearing worker overalls with a white undershirt.

"Excuse me?" Asked the well-dressed man.

"What are you doing here?" The man bellowed again.

"My wife is giving birth." The well-dressed man replied, calmly.

"That is a bunch of horse-" The man was cut off by the man in jeans holding back the other guys arm. It was obvious he was about to punch the man. At this Jack stood up, just in case he needed to help the man in jeans.

"May I ask what the problem is before you redecorate this mans face or do we need to call security in here?" The man in blue jeans asked. The angry man tried to shrug himself out of the mans hold but couldn't.

"He is not married, at least that is what he told my sister!" The well-dressed man looked shocked at this statement.

"I think you have me confused with someone else, sir." The well-dressed man replied.

"I do not have you confused with someone else! I know who you are! You sicko…" The angry man bellowed. Jack jumped over the chair that he had been sitting in, and rushed toward the angry man, to try and help restrain him; as he and the man in jeans got better control of the attacker the man caught Jack's eyes.

"Son, go get security. Tell them to come quick." At that Jack nodded to the man in jeans and ran out the door to the security station down on the first floor. 10 minutes later Jack and the guards were running down the hall towards the maternity wing where Jack just was. They arrived just in time to see a chair fly in front of the entrance of the waiting room. The man wearing jeans was trying to get control of the angry man again. The guards quickly got the man under control and they escorted him downstairs for some questioning; leaving one guard behind to question everyone in the room about what happened. "Thank you for helping me, and for getting help." The man in jeans said gratefully, heading toward Jack after the guard had finished questioning him.

"No problem." Jack said, like it was no big deal.

"Names Jake." Jake said, as he extended his hand out in a greeting manner.

"Jack." He responded by shaking the proffered hand.

"Jack, not trying to pry or anything but why are you here on a Saturday afternoon? Not really a place to pick up chicks you know." Jake said, in an attempt to make a joke.

"My sister is having a baby." Jack stated simply, then he looked at Jake, "Is everything alright?" Jack had to ask since the man had been walking a hole in the floor all morning. Jake looked deep in thought for a moment and Jack thought at one point the man was not going to answer him. Then Jake slowly started to talk.

"My wife is giving birth to our first child. We are both ecstatic about this; have been trying for years to have a baby." Jack looked shocked at Jake's slow answer; he didn't think he was going to get a story. "When my wife found out she was pregnant we were ecstatic. Everything had gone so smoothly. We came here late last night and everything was going fine till early this morning. The doctors said the baby is in distress, and its starting to cause problems for Linda. That is the last I heard." Jack and Jake stood there quiet for a moment. Jack, always having found these kind of situations awkward, said a silent prayer for the man's wife and unborn child before he spoke up.

"I hope everything works out in the end." Not too eloquent, but Jack was not known for that either. Jake looked into Jack's eyes and could tell he truly meant what he was saying. Jake nodded his thanks and all of a sudden Jack found himself talking again. "They don't think my sister will make it, something has gone wrong. She shouldn't be in this situation in the first place." He pauses to collect his thoughts and hold back his anger. "She shouldn't be having a kid and now because of her creep of an ex she's gonna die for a kid he doesn't want anything to do with." Jack finished, his fist clenched at his side, and he takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, you didn't ask for my pity story."

"I hope they are able to save your sister." Jake answered, sincerely. "If they are not I am truly sorry, but think of this, though you will have lost your sister you will always have a piece of her that lives on. Cherish the child." Jake finished and then patted Jack on the shoulder. They look at each other for a moment before going back to their respective spots from earlier.

The next time the door opened a doctor in scrubs came out and made eye contact with Jake.

"Captain Carter? Your wife and daughter would like to see you now."

At that word, daughter, Jake's face lit up and he quickly followed the doctor out of the waiting room, everyone could see he was one proud new papa.

* * *

"Samantha, I like that name."

* * *

AN: Thanks again to Wendy my Awesome Beta'er

Please R&R and for those that have read chapters 1&2 before and have made the great jump from the other story to this fork thanks:-D


	4. Guilt

_A/N: _I know I confused a few of you...probably all of you...with the last chapter. This one will probably not help but everything will all come to light around chapter 7. These chapters are being written fairly fast, as in they are almost done, so stick with me. :-D As always feed the writer, read and review. Also I will answer anything that is not plot driven that has you puzzled about the story.

_

* * *

Nemo Malus Felix  
(Peace visits not the guilty mind.)  
**Juvenal**** (55 AD - 127 AD)

* * *

**_

"Samantha, I like that name."

* * *

A boy was standing in front of the girl, Samantha; he was wearing blue jeans and a "hair" band black t-shirt. Sam was also wearing a pair of jeans, and a sweater that was slightly too big on her small frame; her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. They were standing in the living room of the house; off to the side a bit. Teenagers were everywhere and not a parent in sight. 

"No, I told you my name was Sam." Sam replied; her blue eyes conveyed her displeasure in being called Samantha.

"But it is short for Samantha, isn't it?" The boy replied back with a question.

"No one calls me Samantha!" Sam said and then she turned and walked away from the very confused boy. He shrugged his shoulders and moved on to the next girl. Sam meanwhile was looking for a place to escape. She had attended this party for two reasons; to spite her father and because her friends were here. It was nice that she looked older than 13, all the other 8th graders had been turned away at the door. Even with people being turned away the party had started to get out of control, and if it kept getting any bigger the police would show up at any moment. So Sam had decided to walk outside and enjoy the swing set she had seen in the backyard, and wait for her friends to find her.

As Sam sat calmly on the swing she went into deep thought. No one had called her Samantha in a long time, in fact her mother had been the only one that still called her Samantha, and she had died a year ago. Since then Sam had rebelled; that wasn't to say she had made a lot of bad choices, she just wasn't making the right ones either. For example, tonight she was at a party; sure it was bad that she had been drinking, but 1 or 2 beers wasn't that bad. The bad part was that she had had to sneak out of the house to get here. The people she was hanging out with were also the kind of people who were not always on their best behavior; not that she did everything they did but she wanted to be with other people who did not care as much as she did. Her grades had suffered but she was not failing, she just was not getting straight A's anymore. Her father was worried but all of her mother's old friends had told him to give her some time and space to deal, and time and space is what he had given her. He took tons of missions and Mark forever hated him for that. Sam wasn't mad at him anymore or what he did, more like didn't do. Perhaps her mother's friends were right maybe she did just need time.

Sam started to swing herself while looking up to the sky. She always wanted to go to space, and she still could. She still thought about going into the US Air Force like her father, where she would have a better opportunity to get into NASA. However, at this moment the idea of having to follow all those rules seemed to turn her off of that idea. She wanted to go to space but she also wanted to have her freedom. Sam sat there swinging for quite some time, mesmerized by the stars so much so that she didn't see or hear her friends coming towards her.

"Sam." A male voice called out to her. Sam didn't hear them, as she was still looking at the stars.

"Great, she's staring off into space again." Another male voice said as the other 4 snickered at his comment. "Sam!" He yelled as he snapped his fingers in front of her.

"Oh, hey guys." Sam replied, a little sheepishly. Although she could not see it, she could sense them rolling her eyes at her.

"Hey we're gonna blow this popsicle joint, you ready to leave?" The original voice asked.

"Oh yeah, where we going?" Sam asked as she got up off the swing.

"We don't know yet, might just cruise around. See what comes our way." Sam knew what that meant; "cruising" meant they would drive down random residential areas and leave "surprises" at some of their teacher's houses.

"Ah, well I should be getting home." Sam said.

"Oh come on Sam its not going to kill you. We aren't going to do anything bad." A boy replied. Sam rolled her eyes because she knew better; but why not go? She had nothing else to do.

"Fine." She said weakly, as she walked towards them.

They headed out to one of the friends cars and all piled in. They could all fit in but it wasn't legal. They headed down some local streets all the while they were talking. Apparently one of the guys named Michael had thought of someone that should be paid a visit. It wasn't that far out of the way so they stopped by his house to grab some supplies; a lunch bag and some dog poo, and then they made their way through the streets until they got to the house in question.

By the time they got there it was around 1 am. Michael ran up to the front door with the bag, placed it one the doormat, lit it and rang the doorbell. Then he made a quick dash towards the bushes while everyone else watched from afar. Lights started flicking on everywhere in the house; a man came to the door in jeans and no shirt and saw what was waiting for him. He shouted some obscenities and immediately set to stomping out the bag. Well this caused everyone to start giggling, except Sam. The man started looking around for who had done it while Sam just sat quietly watching, she felt horrible for what her friends were doing. At that moment a lady joined the man at the door, she was trying to calm him down. You could see that the lady was worried but her top priority was to calm her husband down. After the man had a good look around she got him into the house. Sam and everyone else then started to get up and sneak back to the car when they heard a window break

At that moment they all knew that Michael had taken it too far. They ran the rest of the way to the car and piled in as the driver started the car and made their hasty retreat. "I can't believe you did that!" Sam said, in horror.

"Oh come on, it was good harmless fun." Michael said.

"You broke their window!" Sam shouted.

"Yeah, and she is failing me in math. She deserved it." Michael calmly pointed out.

"That is no reason to break her window; all you have to do is stop skipping your classes and do your homework." Sam argued with a raised voice.

"Hey Einstein, some of us aren't as smart as you are." Michael retorted. At that Sam sat stunned for a moment, and just as she was about to pipe up someone else broke in.

"Yeah Sam, give him a break and you have to admit it was pretty funny." Sam couldn't believe she was hearing this. This was not funny and it had never been fun but they had crossed a line. Flaming bags of shit was one thing but this crossed a line.

"Take me home." Sam said, evenly.

"What?!" everyone asked in unison.

"I said Take. Me. Home!" Sam said, with authority.

"Alright, fine." The driver said.

The next morning Sam still felt bad about the whole situation so she jumped on her bike and made her way to the house that they had been to the night before. She went to the same spot they had hid in and found the husband rubbing a hand through his hair as he studied the broken window. His wife, Michael's math teacher, was visibly shaken. Even though it happened the night before, it had definitely rattled her.

The man looked at his wife and then with silent words his wife was in his arms. Clinging on to him for any comfort she could grasp. Sam jumped onto her bike; she rode around for hours just thinking about what had happened, and thinking about what she was doing with her life. By the time she had gotten home it was near 9 pm. Her father was sitting there in the front living room waiting for her.

"Sam, where have you been all day?" her father asked.

"Sorry Dad, I was out thinking." Sam replied.

"Thinking, all day?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I want to talk about mom." Sam stated, looking unsure towards her hands.

"You want to talk about mom?" her dad asked, stunned.

"Yeah." She stated once more and then they talked. They talked about how her father met her mother; about their first date and how he proposed. They also talked about why he joined the military. They talked about what Sam wanted to do for the rest of their life and he told her stories about when she was little, about how she was always fascinated with space. In the end Sam decided she had to make some changes in her life and she was going to start now. She was going to go to space and to do that she had to be the best; she had to stand out if she was going to make it up there.

The next day, after school she went to the teacher's house again. Standing nervously at the front door, she tentatively stretched out her finger and rung the doorbell.

About a minute later a women answered the door, drying her hands on a dishtowel.

"May I help you?" The woman asked.

"Uh hi, um, I don't know how quite to say this, but I am sorry for what happened to your window." Sam said, as she pointed her head to the window that had a piece of cardboard covering it. "I just wanted to give you this." Sam pulled out an envelope that was obviously filled with money, coins and dollars. "I hope it covers the cost of the window." The woman took the envelope looking a little puzzled at it.

"Did you break my window?" She asked, as Sam was walking back down the steps. Sam looked over her shoulder.

"No ma'am." Sam calmly replied.

"Well if you did not break it why are you giving me money for it?" The woman asked, as she held out the envelope to give it back to Sam.

"Because I should have stopped the person that did." Sam stated and then made her way over to her bike that was on the lawn. As Sam put on her helmet, a car pulled up in the driveway. Sam gave the women a nod and then at the car, and jumped onto her bike making her way down the street as the husband stepped out of his car, wearing military fatigues.

He looked up at his wife questioningly, "Sara, who was that?"

"I don't know but whoever it was she felt guilty about her friend breaking the window." She stated as she held up the envelope. He looked shocked for a moment and then started grumbling about the broken window.

* * *

"It's not as bad as it looks, Jack." 


	5. Strength and Instinct

_I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.  
_**_Anna Freud_**

* * *

_Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason._  
**_Ralph Waldo Emerson_ **

* * *

"It's not as bad as it looks Jack."

* * *

Jack stood there next to his wife Sara of 5 years and looked over at her like she had grown another head. They were standing in the gym of a high school decorated with candles and artwork made out of paper. Jack had been miserable pulling at his tux since they had left his parents house 15 minutes ago. 

"Yeah sure ya betcha." Jack said complainingly. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Jack you were the one that offered our services remember."

"Yeah but when I said we would chaperone Emma's dance I didn't think I was going to have to wear this." Jack said as he waved his hand over his outfit.

"Honey it's prom, what did you expect?" Sara stated as she giggled but quickly stopped as she saw the unamused look on Jack's face. To make it better she quickly readjusted his bowtie so that it would not bother him anymore. Once done he mumbled a quick thanks and started looking around him. It reminded him of his prom, well what little he remembered of his prom, he had not stayed long for either of them. Though this prom did have the standard bad decorations, though he would not tell Emma that since he knew she had worked on them for weeks with her friends, bad music, girls in big dresses and guys in uncomfortable tuxes. They had been there for 5 minutes and Jack was already thinking of ways to get out of here.

Jack and Sara had set about checking on everyone and talking to the other chaperones. An hour into the prom Jack heard an all too familiar voice calling out to him.

"Uncle Jack!" Emma called from a little ways away. Jack turned around and saw his niece standing there in her pink dress. She looked like an angel, her brown hair being held up in a bun with little curls framing her face. She was dragging her poor date behind her and he looked like he was having as much fun as Jack was.

"Emma, did you just get here?" Sara asked coming up beside Jack.

"Hey Aunt Sara. Yeah the waiter was so slow!" Emma said throwing her hands up in frustration. "I was so worried that we would not make it here. I mean he was so rude and he split some soda on Jamie's dress and didn't even apologize…" and as Emma spoke a million words per minute Jack zoned out along with Emma's date. His wife all the while listening intently to her but Jack was gone. Jack was starting to get hot in his tux and he really needed to get out of this place, get some fresh air. It also looked like Emma's date needed some air too and by the looks of the ladies they could continue talking till the sun rose. Jack had remembered earlier that the area outside the back of the gym had been set-up too.

"Hey." Jack thought for a moment, he really should know this guys name, his niece had been dating him for almost a year now. Jay, Jason…no…Jordan that was it. "Jordan, you want to step outside for a moment?" Jack said pointing towards the door.

"Uhhhhh Mr. O'N." Jordan started before he was cut off.

"Ahh ahh ahh what have I said about calling me Mr.O'Neill? It's Jack; and I'm not going to give you a speech again I promise. I just really need to get some fresh air and you look like you need it too." Jack finished and looked almost pleadingly at Jordan.

"Yeah I actually could use some air. This tux is hot." Jordan said as he started pulling at his bow tie. Jack motioned to his wife that he and Jordan were going outside and they made their escape.

The night was clear, not a cloud in the sky. The area behind the gym was set up with Christmas lights strung over the back patio that led to the Football/Track bleachers and down the hill towards the lake where a gazebo was set up. Jack walked over to the bleachers and took a reclining seat over a couple of bleachers so that he could look up at the stars. Jordan looked nervous for a moment before hesitantly taking a seat.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jack looking at the stars and Jordan looking at his hands.

"It was nice of you to come here to chaperone the prom." Jordan began. "Emma's been looking forward to this for a while." Jack looked at Jordan with a quizzical stare. "She feels left out some times. She doesn't have stories about her crazy parents or any brothers or sisters to fight with." Jordan paused for a moment. "You make her feel normal, because even though you are barely around so are most aunts and uncles. You come in and hang out with her and then go back to your home. You are the only thing normal to her when it comes to family since her grandparents are raising her. When you show up in town its like she gets rejuvenated." Jordan finishes. Jack sat there in shock.

"I don't do anything special." Jack finally stated.

"That's what she likes. She likes that for a moment she can be just like everyone else." Jordan finished.

"She is like everyone else." Jack stated.

"I know that, but I don't think Emma wants to see that, at least she's not able to see it yet." Jordan finished. Jack sighed and a long silence ensued. Jordan joined Jack and started looking at the stars. They figured if their other halves wanted them they would come and get them. Some 30 minutes later they heard the door open from the gym and the guys looked to see if it's their dates. A girl, with blond hair pulled up with red jewel accents with a black dress trimmed in red, and a guy, with brown short hair in a tux, walked out, like so many couples before them. The girl saw Jordan and Jack on the bleachers and acknowledged them.

"Where are you taking me James?" the girl asked as she continued walking with her date towards the lake.

"You'll see in a minute." James said. James didn't seem to notice the two. So Jack and Jordan looked at them for a moment like they had all the other couples that had gone towards the lake and then went back to star gazing.

A couple of minutes later Jack shot straight up from where he had been sitting and started looking around. Something was not right; Jordan looked at him confused and sat up. Jack jumped to his feet and jumped off the bleachers, Jordan close behind him; as he ran off towards the lake. There were a few couples at the shore along with a few chaperons. Jack looked around but he did not see what he was looking for. He walked over to one of the male chaperones, "Did you see a girl with blond hair in a black dress with some red in it with a guy?" Jack asked as he caught his breath. The man looked at Jack for a second thinking over it.

"No I don't remember ever seeing them." He turns to the lady next to him. "Leslie do you remember seeing a girl in a black dress with red in it with blond hair?" Leslie thought about it.

"No I haven't, I would remember that dress combination." Leslie replied as she pointed out all the girls at the lake right now had light pastel colored dresses on. Jack ran his hand through his hair and then made his way back up the path to the gym looking for signs of someone going off the path.

"Jack what's going on?" Jordan finally spoke up.

"Something just doesn't sit right." Jack said as he continued to look at the side of the path. Jordan looked at Jack and then helped Jack look for anything out of place. As they got closer to the gym Jack started to get worried and looked back over his shoulder towards the lake. Off to the left was the field house that was situated at the end of the football/track field beyond that was a field and some trees that led to the lake; off to the right was a forest that started near the gym and went towards and around the lake. Jack studied the forest section harder; he and Jordan would have noticed someone walking in the field.

"There Jack." Jordan says as he grabs Jack by the arm pointing towards the woods nearer to their position. Jack squinted to see what Jordan was pointing towards.

"What do you see?" Jack asked. Jordan walked into the forest where he had been pointing Jack followed right behind him.

"This." Jordan said as he pointed to the red hair jewel that was in the tree branch. That was all Jack needed to see before he made his way deeper into the forest. They every now and then stumbled onto another clue. Five minutes after entering the forest they approached a clearing and heard the sounds of struggling. Jack and Jordan both broke out into a run into the clearing where they saw the couple they were looking for. The girl had just fought James off of her and the two were circling each other. It was obvious that the girl had been taught to fight and she was good but she was also at a disadvantage; James was not wearing a long dress.

"What is going on here?" Jack said in a commanding voice as he made his way towards the two. James looked towards Jack while the girl was still cautious keeping an eye both on James and an eye on Jack.

"Nothing." James answered immediately. "Just showing my date the stars." Jack raised a questioning eye towards James while getting a good look at the girl. Her hair had fallen a bit and she was supporting a few burses but nothing major. James was also looking a bit rough and had a few scratch marks on his face.

"All the way out here?" Jack asked as he signaled Jordan to walk towards and check on the girl.

"Less light pollution here, you can see the stars better." James answered.

"Alright here is how it's going to go; you are going to stop Bull Shitting me." Jack stated.

"Sir?" James asked.

"Let me tell you what I saw. Jordan and myself were looking at the stars and I saw the two of you walk out of the gym heading towards the lake, which is ok. Until I thought about the fact that your date asked you where you were going and you said 'You'll see in a minute.' Something about that just sounded a bit off so I followed you out here. Then I come all the way through the woods and see you both fighting. I asked you what is going on and you say nothing. That did not look like nothing. Will you now tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack commanded. The guy looked at his feet. Jack looked towards Jordan. "How is she?"

"She's fine Jack she just wants to go home. If it's alright with you I want to escort her back to the gym. I know Emma would have no problem taking her home." Jordan answered. Jack looked again at James and then over to Jordan and the girl.

"Yeah that sounds good. Take her by the Principals office first so she can tell them what happened or make an appointment for Monday to tell her side of the story." Jack stated. Jordan and the girl walked back towards the woods and the school. When they were out of view Jack decided to try one more time. "Why did you bring her out here?"

"Honestly she asked for it." James said while looking Jack in the eye.

"She asked for a fight?" Jack asked doubtfully waving his left arm in the air towards where the girl had just left.

"No!" James said with a pause. "She said she wanted to ummm…"

"Look I don't know what you have been told but she did not look like she wanted to do anything with you; at least not whatever ummm was." Jack stated waving his hands in the air for dramatic impact. "You must have read all the signs wrong." Jack stated.

"No, no I didn't." James quickly replied. Jack looked at him to continue. "See last week we were talking with a group of friends and one of the couple said they were gonna reach home base tonight. So later on when I was taking her back to her dad's I asked her if we were gonna and she said mmhmmm." Jack raised a questioning eye at this.

"She say anything else after that?" Jack asked.

"Uh…no." James answered.

"You sure she was paying attention to what you were saying. You sure that wasn't a hmmm? As in repeat what you just said." Jack stated. James stood there in shock for a moment thinking it over. "Look I don't know anything about this girl but it looks like to me that she isn't one to get into trouble. So are you sure she said mmmhmmm."

"Well she is top in our class and she is trying really hard to get into the Air force. I messed it up big time didn't I?" James stated looking ashamed.

"Ya betcha." Jack answered. "Let's take you to the Principal's office so you can explain everything." Jack started walking towards the forest as James followed sluggishly behind.

"Sam's never going to want to go out with me again is she?" James asked.

"I don't think so." Jack replied. James looked sad for a moment.

* * *

"How could I be so stupid?"

* * *

A/N: Ok everyone wave to the new beta this week...Amber. Thanks:-). Now as always read & review...if it is aweful, tell me...if it's awesome, tell me...you are still confused, tell me...I promis though one more chapter of confusion for those that still are then I promise it will all make sense. Oh and to those that reviewed last chapter I can't remember if I replied but thank you all!  
B 


	6. Guardian

A/N: Many thinks to Wendy for finding time in her busy life to beta!:-D

Another note, I had said chapter 7 was going to be when clarification happened, well now its chapter 8 because under guidance I was told I should separate this chapter into two. So next chapter will be one more past and then we jump back to the present.

As always read and review, even if it bites a big one, tell me:-D.

* * *

"How could I be so stupid?"

* * *

Charles, Charlie, Kawalsky said, as he paused before continuing. "Leslie was perfect; we were even talking about marriage. I can't believe I was such an idiot." He finished, taking a sip of his beer. Jack looked up from his beer and just shrugged his shoulders. "You're supposed to be giving me advice!" Jack looked at him confused. "You're married. You know how to talk to women." Charlie said, as he pointed to Jack's left hand where his wedding ring lay. 

"Ah, I still don't know why she married me." Jack said, as he took a swig of his beer.

"Come on Jack, you have to know something." Charlie moaned.

"The only think I know is that I am stuck here till Thursday when I would rather be home." Jack stated before turning his attention to the football game on the TV, signifying that it was the end of the conversation. Charlie took his queue and watched the game. They sat in a companionable silence for a long while until Charlie could not take it anymore.

"You really have no advice?" Charlie asked.

He looked up at his buddy for his response but received nothing. "Jack! Jack!" he tried again, snapping his fingers in front of his friends' face.

"Huh, oh yeah. Sorry," Jack said, still looking far off. "What were you saying?" Charlie followed Jack's eyes and saw that a woman had just taken a seat at the other end of the bar. She was gorgeous, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a short jean skirt and a slightly revealing blue top. She did not fit into the crowd at this bar; this bar was more of your hole in the wall joint that smelled of stale cigarettes and beer but sold good wings.

"Jack, you dirty old man." Charlie said, with a chuckle. Jack looked over at him in shock.

"No, it's nothing like that." Jack stated, as he pointed to his wedding band that Charlie had pointed out to him earlier. Jack signaled the bartender over to him. "Put all her drinks on my tab." Jack stated to the man. The bartender looked at Jack with a skeptical expression before deciding that he was alright and nodded his head.

"Jack?" Charlie asked. Jack ran a hand through his hair. "You going to ask her out? I mean..." Charlie continued, stumbling over his words.

"Something bad happened to her recently. I don't know what but I don't want her to do anything she is going to regret later." Jack stated, as he looked at the woman.

"Jack she's dressed like she wants something to happen." Charlie stated, as he looked her over again.

"Charlie, look around you, how many women are in this place?" Jack asked, as he took a sip of his beer. Charlie looked around and noticed there was the one woman at the bar and one more sitting in the back of the bar with a group of men, watching the football game on TV. "If she was looking to pick up a man here she would not have had to dress up that much. She ditched her friends, wanting to spend some time alone to drink her worries away." Jack pointed out, as he looked at the woman again.

"So buying her drinks stops that how?"

"A guy comes up to offer to buy her a drink to get his in, she can decline them by stating its already paid for and send the guy on his way. If she really wants to talk to the guy she will accept the drink regardless." Jack states. "This just gives her an easy out." The bartender had just finished telling the lady that her drinks had been paid for by the man at the end of the bar. The woman looked up toward Jack and Charlie, Jack just raised his beer towards her and then took a sip. The woman looked Jack over for a minute but seemed to understand what Jack was doing.

"Jack logic." Charlie stated simply as he took a drink.

It didn't take long for the first guy to offer to buy the woman a drink. She rejected the guy and continued drinking. A few more men came up and offered to buy her a drink throughout the night but every time she would politely let them go, saying that her drink was already paid for.

As the night wore on Jack could see that the woman was a little more than just tipsy and decided that now was the time to get the bartender to call her a cab. When the cab arrived Jack walked up to the woman. "Your ride is here." Jack stated, offering his arm.

"My friends are here?" She asked, in a drunken slur.

"No, I called you a cab. I don't know how you got here but you are in no state to drive." Jack stated and again offered his arm, which the woman did not take.

She stood up on her own a little unsteadily, but supporting her own weight. Jack understood the need for this woman to walk out of the bar on her own, but he kept a protective eye on her. As she walked through the door of the bar, Jack slipped around her to talk to the cabbie.

"Take her wherever her home is." Jack calmly stated, as he handed him enough money to cover a cab fare for D.C. and the surrounding areas and then some. "Make sure she gets in her door." Jack added, as the woman finally got to the two men. The cabbie opened the door for her and she looked at Jack for a moment before calmly getting into the car. The cabbie closed the door and made his way around the car.

Jack looked down as he heard the window being rolled down. "Why did you do this?" the woman asked.

"I knew you wanted to be alone." Jack replied.

"Then why pay for my drinks?" She asked, curiously.

"I didn't want you to do anything you would regret."

"You speaking from experience?" at Jack's silence she took the answer for what it was. "Thanks." She stated with a bit of a slur. She went to her purse and started pulling out some bills and started to hand it to him.

"Keep it." She looked at him before putting the money back in her purse.

"Can I at least have your name?" She asked, as she put her hand out the window for him to shake.

"Jack." He stated, simply.

"Sam." She said, as she shook his hand. "It's nice to know that not all men are jerks." At hearing that Jack gave a chuckle, he had been right in his assumptions. Jack tapped the top of the cab to signal for the driver to go and he stepped away.

As the cab drove away Jack looked back at the bar and then around him at the busy streets of D.C.. It wasn't home but he knew Thursday was not too far away. Looking up at the stars he decided it was time to head back to the hotel. As he went to go tell Charlie he was going back, he heard a voice; someone yelling as they moved out of the bar.

* * *

"It's all your fault." 


	7. Silent Comfort

A/N: This is the last _flashback_ chapter from here its back to the current time.  
Thank you Amber, Wendy and Jena for your help with the chapter.  
Something was pointed out to me in a review and I thought I should clarify these stories from Faith till this one are in chronological order and are all pre-Stargate the show. Read and review and as always if it good tell me and if it bites a big one tell me:-P

* * *

"It's all your fault."

* * *

Sam mumbled to no one. She didn't want to be with anyone right now. She had done a good job of being with no one all day, but she knew that wasn't going to last long. As if on cue with her thoughts, Sam could hear the key turning in the door to her apartment. She made no action to move towards the door. She knew it had to be one of her worried friends trying to get her out, but she just didn't want to hear about it. Whoever it was at the front door was now moving into her apartment, dropping keys off on the front hall table, and moving towards the living room. 

"Sam….Sam…I know you're here. Come on out," the worried female voice called. "Sam, come on, you have to get out of here. You can't sulk around forever you know." Sam could hear her friend moving throughout the house, opening all the doors and even looking in closets. Sam was sure she wouldn't find her, but there was her friend looking at her in relief. "There you are."

"Damn it, Liz, leave me alone," Sam stated angrily.

"No can do, you need to get on with life."

"I'm FINE!" Sam stated venomously.

"Right, and because the great and wonderful Sam Carter says she's _fine_ it really translates to life sucks and I don't want to talk about it. That's why you're lying on the roof outside your apartment window looking at the stars. Oh yeah, you're doing _fine_!" Liz said in an overly sarcastic tone. "Sam, get your ass in here."

"No."

"I don't believe I was giving you a choice."

"If I come in, will you leave me alone?"

"Maybe."

"God, Liz you are such a pain." Sam said as she got up off the ground and ducked through the window to get back into her bedroom. Liz was now standing in front of her in a khaki skirt and a short-sleeved pink shirt with her blond hair tied up in a ponytail.

"I know," Liz smiled cheerfully. "Now, isn't that so much better?"

"No," Sam stated while willing Liz to go away.

"Anyways, I figured you need to get out," Liz said. "Oh, come on, Sam. It will be fun. I can call all the girls and go out and let our hair down. It will be fun!" she added after she saw Sam's facial expression of distaste.

"Why should I go? I am doing just fine here." Liz rolled her eyes at Sam's statement.

"You have been cooped up here for two months. Only leaving to go to work and even then it's like you're not even there."

"Why bother, they are just going to take my project away again."

"I know that has got to suck."

"Suck…SUCK is such an understatement. Liz, this is well beyond SUCK. It was MY PROJECT! I had been working on it for two years and it takes them one week while I am away and they give it to someone else. It was MINE! How would you feel if you were working on something for so long only to have it taken away?" Sam spat, waving her hands in the air with a look in her eyes that would kill.

"Hey," Liz stated with her hands in a defensive position, palms out. "I know it's got to be killing you. You are always happiest when working on a project and this one, I know, was your baby. But I really can't understand what you are going through…I'm just a glorified secretary with the rank of Captain. I don't have projects and I am more than happy to have some assignments taken away from me and given to other people. Come on Sam, I am just asking for one night; just a group of girls, some food, a few beers, and some hot guys. It'll be fun, Sam. Like old times," Liz finished off with a pleading look. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll go." Sam started. "But don't expect me to be peppy."

"Good. We leave in 30 minutes."

"What, you already had this planned?"

"I knew you would see the light."

"You are unbelievable, Liz!"

"I know," Liz said with a smirk as she started going towards Sam's closet to find something for her to wear.

"I'm not wearing that short jean skirt again!" Sam called towards her friend, who was now digging through her closet.

"That's what you think!"

* * *

"I'm going to cut my hair," Sam stated as she picked up a portion of her long blond hair that fell halfway down her back. She had convinced Liz into letting her wear something she was more comfortable in, a pair of long jeans and a light green short-sleeved top. 

"Why Sam? Your hair is gorgeous!" Liz stated a bit loudly.

"They always see me as a woman. If I cut my hair, it's one less thing to remind them that I am." Sam said. "I have to prove myself, prove that I am worthy for these projects and am not just a woman that is thinking about getting married and will retire when that happens."

"Oh, Sam, you don't have to prove anything. You are smart. They know they need you." Sam rolled her eyes as the girl across from her with long brown hair, Cindy, spoke.

"I am sure they had a good reason for it." The girl to her left, Jessica, chimed in as she set her drink back down on the table.

"Yeah, it's because I'm a girl." Sam stated quietly, but the table still heard her over the noise of the bar. At that moment the waitress showed up with their food and took orders for the next round of drinks, leaving the women to their food. They ate in silence until Cindy started to talk with a squeal.

"Oh, that's the guy I was telling you about," she said as she smacked Jessica on the arm.

"Where?" Jessica asked, clearly interested to see who her friend had been talking about.

"With the group of guys that just walked in. There at the bar," she started, "third guy from the right." At this all the girls were trying to look but not look at the guy at the bar. There among a group of guys was a blond haired guy, medium built, with standard jeans and a button down shirt on.

"Oh wow! And you say he's not a jerk?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, he's positively charming," Cindy said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Well, then why don't you go up and talk to him?" Liz asked. "Ask him if he wants to dance." Cindy's face turned red.

"I could not do that. Besides no one is on the dance floor," Cindy whined.

"Not yet at least," Liz said as she stood up.

"Liz, what are you doing!" Cindy asked as Liz started to walk towards the guys. "Liz, what are you doing!" she repeated.

"I said this was a girls night out. I said food, beer, and hot men…we need hot men," Liz called back to her friends over her shoulder. The table sat there stunned. None of them brave enough to move, but each watched every one of Liz's moves. She calmly walked up to the blond haired guy that Cindy was crushing on and calmly pointed towards their table. They talked for a while and then with the other guys and after about 5 minutes the 5 guys picked up their beers and walked towards the table. To say the girls were shocked would be an understatement. Mutters of 'she did it again' were heard from Cindy and Jessica.

The guys came to the table and introduced themselves. The blonde haired guy's name was Mike. They sat down at the table and conversation ensued. Mainly they talked about the band that was playing in the background; they were playing a mix of soft rock cover songs and a few of their own creations. At one point, Liz grabbed one of the guy's hands.

"Where are we going?" the guy asked.

"To the dance floor," Liz stated simply. The guy looked at the dance floor. It looked like a standard bar dance floor; half of the restaurant section of the bars tables had been pushed aside and the band and dance floor were created. The dance floor was also empty. The guy looked at Liz like she was crazy. "Someone has to start the dancing!" she added as she successfully dragged him off to the dance floor.

They danced by themselves for a moment before Cindy and Mike left to dance. Jessica looked at Sam, asking her with a look if she could go dancing too. Sam just nodded her head yes and Jessica and another guy were off to the dance floor. Sam decided that she had to get out of there; she just needed some fresh air and she remembered there was a park across the street from the bar. Making her excuses to the remaining two guys at the table, she grabbed her purse and she went to Liz.

"I'm going outside to the park across the street," Sam halfway yelled over the band. Liz looked at her for a moment.

"You want me to go with you?" she asked, worried.

"No, I just need some fresh air. I will be back in a little while," Sam answered.

"You're not going to leave us like you did that other time?" Liz asked.

"You know that was 2 years ago." Liz looked at Sam, asking the question again with a look. "I promise, I am just going to sit at the park. I will come back here and tell you if I go anywhere else."

"You promise?" Liz asked.

"Yes."

"Alright. Be careful though, you never know who is going to be out there this late."

"I know," Sam said as she walked towards the entrance of the bar, past the bouncer, and out the door.

The night air was warm and there was no moon in the sky. Sam looked up and even with the light pollution of the city, she could still see the stars. She looked around her and crossed the street; traffic was always light at this part of town. As she walked into the park, she noticed two sets of swings over on the hill and made her way there. As she got closer she noticed that a male figure was sitting on the swing set all the way to the right. Though she could not see the man, she could tell by his body language that he was in deep thought, but he didn't send off any warning bells. Sam decided to sit on the swing set to the left. She chose the swing that was able to keep an eye on the man, but at the same time, get a good view of the night sky.

She thought about her position in the military; she loved it. She didn't want to quit, but at the same time, she couldn't allow herself to be walked over. She had been told by Jonas that she was too nice and trusting. Maybe it was time to show a different side of Sam. This one was going to stand up and let people know that even though she was a female, she could do everything a man could do. She was going to cut her hair. Though she had never gotten a sexist remark about her hair at work, she had gotten statements from dates calling her a dumb blonde. The hair had to go. Sitting back as she watched the stars, Sam mapped out her life. The man on the other swing set seemed to be doing to same thing and must have come to a conclusion because he started looking up at the stars. Sam thought about it; she should have been creeped out by this man sitting in the park by himself. But it was comforting to have someone else there, even if it was a stranger.

They swung and watched the stars in silence for a while.

"Jack!" A male voice yelled from the park entrance.

"Oh, fer crying out loud," Jack said while standing up from his swing and making his way towards the voice.

"Yeah, he's in there," the male voice hollered to someone else before turning his attention back to Jack.

* * *

"What's going on?" 


	8. Oz?

"What's going on?"

* * *

Jack asked as he looked around. He, along with Sam, was in the same position he'd been in at the church but the location had changed. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." 

"Wow. This looks like it's-" Sam started.

"-Straight out of the movie, yeah." Jack continued as he stood up, brushing his knees off as he did. Once standing he offered his hand to Sam and helped her stand up.

The scenery looked like it was straight out of The Wizard of Oz movie. There was an eerie difference though; it was quiet, too quiet, no munchkins in sight and not a single sign or sound of nature.

It looked like the same beautiful town square and the yellow brick road, surrounded by red and gray cobblestone, from the movie; but no town major or committee had come out to great them. "Hello!" Jack called out but only the echo of his voice bouncing off the buildings was the reply. Sam walked towards one of the houses and looked in the window, she stepped back with a perplexed look on her face and walked over to another window of a different house.

"Huh."

"What?" Jack asked, as he walked up beside her.

"Well I would have guessed there would be things inside. This whole city-" she replied, as she waved her arm around towards the other houses, "-is just a façade."

"Well, how to do we get out of here?"

"I don't know. Let me get a look around." Sam said as she walked off towards another house in the town.

"I'll go open some doors." Jack said, remembering the last time he was in this situation; shivers ran down his spine just thinking about it.

Sam went through every house checking every possible spot she could think of, but there was nothing more to this town than what she saw in the first two houses. Frustrated she walked over to Jack, who was now staring down the yellow brick road just off toward the fields beyond the town.

"Any ideas, Carter?" he asked as she came up beside him.

"No, sir." Though they were married, in the current situation it seemed the military side wanted to take control over the situation. "I don't know how we got here and without my equipment I can't really tell you much else except that this place looks empty. I don't see anything that could have brought us here or anything that will get us out." Sam spoke with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Jack thought for a moment before he spoke up. "I don't think we will find it here." He pointed his thumb back over to the munchkin village. "I think we have to leave here."

"What?"

"You said it yourself, there is nothing here. It's almost like this is the set from the movie, Dorothy had to go to the Emerald City to get home." Sam raised her eyebrow at this. "You got anything better." Sam shook her head in the negative. "Well then, we're off to see the Wizard." He quoted as he started walking cautiously down the yellow brick road.

Everything they passed looked just like it had in the movie, they reached the field where the Scarecrow was found but no scarecrow was in sight. The same absence was found where the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were supposed to be.

Sam and Jack had walked in silence for almost the entire journey, every once in a while Jack would say a quote or two from the movie like "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" but for the most part it was quiet. Sam had been thinking about how they ended up at this location. Jack had his guard up but nothing was amiss so his mind kept wondering to what he had just seen before finding himself in Munchkinland. If what he had seen was true he had met Sam a number of times before they had met in the briefing room. Jack was curious if Sam had seen the same flashes.

"Before we ended up here, did you see flashbacks?" Jack asked.

"Hmmm?" Sam asked, looking at Jack to repeat what he had just spoke.

"Flashbacks, did you see any before we arrived here?" Jack restated. As the question sunk in, the light bulb could instantly be seen above Sam's head.

"Yeah."

"You were the girl that paid for the broken window." Jack stated again. Sam's face turned red.

"Yeah"

"Why did you pay for it? You didn't break it." Jack asked. She thought for a moment, biting her lip in the process.

"I don't know. I know for certain that your wife didn't deserve what happened to her." Sam paused for a moment before continuing. "It was probably the only time I was happy that my Dad got transferred; I think after we had talked he had asked for the transfer because we were only there for a few months." Jack nodded in understanding.

They stood there for a while in silence; thinking. Sam looked at Jack and could see he was thinking hard about something. "What?"

"Huh?" Jack asked.

"What are you thinking?" Sam asked.

"Oh." Jack said, running his hand through his hair. "I was just thinking that it's amazing how many times we've run into each other."

"Yeah." Sam paused before continuing, "I can't believe you were the teenage boy my father was talking about." Jack looked at Sam asking for more information. "He said you were a great help at the hospital. Not only helped him with the fight but with calming his nerves. Hearing about your sister made him realize that it could have been worse." Sam caught herself as she said that last part and looked at Jack with a look of grief. "I am sorry to hear your sister didn't make it, I always wondered if she did." Jack waved his hand signifying the compassion wasn't needed.

"It was a long time ago, besides I got one heck of a niece out of it." Sam laughed at Jack's comment.

"Yeah, that was a shock when I saw her at your family reunion. She looks just like she did in High School. You do know her boyfriend was right about what he said. She always talked about you." Sensing Jack become uncomfortable with the praise, Sam looped her arm around Jack's and dropped her head onto his shoulder as they continued walking. "You seem to have done a lot of protecting of me." Jack stopped walking so that he could look down at Sam in confusion. "You helped me that night at the bar, and that night at the park." Sam replied, as she looked into his eyes. "What were you thinking that night on the swing?" Sam asked

"About everything." Jack stated simply.

"The same." Sam confirmed her own thoughts.

"At least you have your answer as to why you were not on that first mission." Jack added.

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't have been a good thing to send a General's daughter on a suicide mission." Sam responded, sarcastically. "You know I was certain that I got kicked off that mission because I'm a woman." She added, seriously. "I changed my whole attitude that night to how I wanted to be perceived in the Air Force. I wanted to be one of the guys so that I could be taken seriously."

"We did. Though I think that the 'reproductive organs' speech hurt you." Jack commented with a grin.

"Oh god, I can't believe I said that." Sam groaned, as she buried her face into Jack's chest.

"That night, on the swings, was when I decided that there were things to live for again. That was the night I decided to retire, I didn't trust myself not to take another mission like that." Jack said. Sam snuggled deeper into his arms, giving him the silent comfort he needed. Jack's hand went back to playing with her hair and after playing with it for a little while Jack spoke up again. "You shouldn't have cut it."

"Huh?" Sam asked, confused.

"You shouldn't have cut your hair, it was beautiful long." Jack replied with a reminiscent tone of voice.

"I have thought about letting it grow again." Sam contemplated, raking her fingers through her hair in thought.

"You should." Jack said with hope as he pulled her head away from his chest so she could see his seriousness. Sam smiled at him and nodded her head positively.

"We better get going." Sam noted, observing how low the sun was in the sky.

"Ah yes, we're off to see the Wizard." Jack commented in a sing-song voice.

The rest of the trip to Emerald City was made in silence; silence because they were thinking about the events to themselves and because nothing was making any sound in the area surrounding them.

When they arrived at the Emerald City, Sam quickly scanned the area and it was completely the same as Munchkinland; more of the same silence and facades of houses. Walking the street to the Wizards room, the two started to check around themselves, becoming increasingly alert. Something was not right; the eerie silence had gotten to them but the closer they got to the Wizards room the more deafening that silence became.

As they walked down the hallway once inside the Palace, Jack and Sam moved like the competent military unit they had been for all those years. No words were needed, just a look or a nod and the other knew what to do. As they approached the door that was already open, Jack signaled to go in and they both stepped into an empty room. There was nobody there and no sound, not even the sound of their shoes tapping the ground. They cautiously walked up to where Dorothy and company had stood, not really expecting anything yet at the same time expecting to see the "Wizard". Jack looked towards the curtained off area to the left and signaled with one look to Sam, which she understood.

Jack followed behind Sam as they walked toward the curtain area; once reaching it he stood off to the left while she took the right. When signaled to go they both pulled back at the curtain waiting for anything that might be there. There was nothing in the area. They both looked up at the same time to see a bright blinding light engulfing them quickly.

"Ah, great!" Jack sighed in frustration, as they were completely covered by the light. Then just as quickly as the light came it disappeared, with Jack and Sam in tow.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to my awesome beta Wendy for yet another awesome job:-D.  
Also I have to blame this chapter on the fact that I am reading Wicked right now.  
As always read and review (good, bad, indifferent:-P) and more coming very soon. 


	9. Home

_Jack followed behind Sam as they walked toward the curtain area; once reaching it he stood off to the left while she took the right. When signaled to go they both pulled back at the curtain waiting for anything that might be there. There was nothing in the area. They both looked up at the same time to see a bright blinding light engulfing them quickly._

_"Ah, great!" Jack sighed in frustration, as they were completely covered by the light. Then just as quickly as the light came it disappeared, with Jack and Sam in tow._

* * *

For Jack and Sam there was no chance to regain their bearings before they heard a voice talking to them. "You have passed the test. I have been waiting many centuries for a pair to pass the test and you are the first to do so. You must be the ones that the Great Master said were coming." The highly excited voice spoke. 

"Wow." Jack said, as he looked towards the voice and found a man standing in front of them in outdated clothes. He appeared to be in his 60's and at one point in his life had obviously had a full head of light sandy brown hair. "What is going on here?" Jack demanded, looking around him. Off to his right was Sam in the same position she had been in while pulling the curtain back. There were shelves filled with all sorts of technology and books; from where Jack was standing he could see Asgard, Furling and Ancient technology, and others that he did not recognize.

"Oh, sorry." The man said, quickly blushing. "I am Jan; I am the protector of the Great Master's treasures." At Sam and Jack's curious stares the man continued. "I was sent by the Great Master to watch over this place until the rightful ones came. I was instructed to look for the ones that traveled great distances, had overcome great obstacles and were true of heart.

"I have had many people set off the trigger, and I have studied their memories, their morals and those that accompany them. You two have been the first that have made it through all the tests. You were fascinating to watch; you have done a great many things together and traveled many places." Sam and Jack looked at each other, nodded to say he was correct, and then looked back at him.

"I found that you both had overcome lots of obstacles in your lives," Jan turned towards Sam, "You lost your mother at a young age, had things you held dear taken away from you, lost your father, had two different consciousnesses invade your mind and countless other traumas and you have always kept true to who you were." At Sam's look of denial Jan continued, "You might have temporarily lost sight but your morality never let your short term pain and anger get out of control. You are a strong woman and have always kept true to your beliefs." Sam blushed as the man turned his attention to Jack.

"You have had to overcome much, the death of both your sister and your son at young ages, countless imprisonments, military operations you would rather forget, the downloading of knowledge into your consciousness twice and tortured repeatedly; even through all of that you are an honorable man. You are a protector, one with constant watch over your people, a man of few words but of many actions." Noticing Jack's disbelief and stunned shock Jan continued, "Though you think you are not worthy of all I am telling you; you are a remarkable person and have a strong moral code; though different to hers; yours is of protection and that is what triggered the test."

Sam looked at Jan with a questioning look, always wanting to know the mechanics behind everything. "When you, Jack, were in the church above your thoughts were about how to best protect her-" he told him as he was pointing to Sam, "-and the other gentleman you were with, from any unseen dangers as they were overly engaged into finding this place." Jack's posture showed he was not impressed by this guys reasoning. "Most people that walk behind their companions are thinking about what else they could be doing instead; they are not assessing the situation around them about how best to keep their companions safe. In the more than 400 years that I have been here, I have had only 17 people trigger the switch, though none of them possessed every factor that the Great Master left for me. This place has been kept for you." Jan finished as he motioned with his right arm to all the technology around them.

"How were you able to scan our minds? How were you kept alive for so long? A stasis pod?" Sam asked quickly. Her inquisitive mind taking over as the scientist in her began racing a mile a minute to understand.

"I was kept in stasis and was able to scan the minds of those that had triggered any of the switches the Great Master had set."

"So the other sites lead here also?" Sam asked; remembering that Daniel said there were 10 total.

"Yes, there were originally 10 sites to begin with, sadly, through the years some sites were destroyed; it was out of that fear that the Great Master created 10 sites. Some of the sites were harder to get to and thus never were triggered but merely there incase all the other sites were destroyed. As for the site at the church, I thought it was going to be destroyed during the hard times a few hundred years ago but lucky they did not harm any of the graves."

"How do you know for sure this was meant for us?" Sam asked, "There could be others out there that fulfill those requirements."

"I just knew, the Great Master said I would. I knew before I started looking into your pasts, which were quite fascinating. When I saw your memories overlap I found it interesting that you did not know. All those times you had crossed paths, I had to show you what I saw; caring for strangers, helping in their time of need no matter how big or small, you helped each other. I wasn't supposed to show you what I saw but I felt that it would be a shame not to. You became what you are today from those moments and I felt you needed to know." Jack looked like he was about to say something but Sam beat him to it.

"You said you were not supposed to show us those memories." Jan nodded his head in affirmative. "Was-"

"What did Oz have to do with this?" Jack broke in with his question.

"Oz?" Jan asked, perplexed.

"The houses with no people, yellow brick road, Emerald City." Jack replied frustrated.

"It's where we were before we were beamed here." Sam answered calmly, but with a trace of doubt in her voice.

"Ah yes that place I took from your memories. I believe you both have it filed as a "movie" in your memories." Jack looked at Jan as if to say hurry up and get to the point. "It was to test your thought process and your determination. It was very interesting; you-" he pointed to Sam. "-wanted to study it and find an explanation, a concrete solution. While you-" Jan now looked at Jack, "-excepted the surroundings for what they were and wanted to act on getting to the Emerald city, though you let her do all her researching just in case." Jan explained with excitement. "You are who I have been kept here for. This is all yours and now it's my time to finally travel on from this place." Jan said as he walked towards the stasis chamber, he pressed a few buttons on the controls when it dawned on both Jack and Sam what he just said.

"Wait, what do you mean travel from this place? How do we get out of here? Where are you going?" Jack asked, walking quickly up to Jan's location.

"You leave from there-" Jan said as he pointed towards the platform that Sam was still standing on when they arrived. Looking down at where she was standing, Sam quickly stepped off. "-and you may re-enter by any of the locations that remain. Only the two of you may enter this place but you may take any and everything out of here." With that he stepped into the stasis chamber.

"Sam, figure out how to stop that thing." Jack ordered, as he waved his hand towards the stasis chamber; it was slowly filling up with the ice like substance. Sam quickly walked over to the controls that Jan had been using just seconds before.

"Sir, I don't know what he did, I don't think I can stop this." She said in defeat as she tried to comprehend what was happening. They both stood there and watched as the stasis chamber finished filling up. As soon as it was done Jan was gone; just gone.

"What the…?" Jack cursed in frustration.

"I don't know." Sam said as she looked over the controls one more time to see if she could spot anything but without knowledge of what she was looking at she was walking blind. "I can't do anything else without my equipment." She said after several minutes "We have to go back up." She finished with a tone of frustration.

Walking back onto the platform Jack and Sam looked around to see if there was something they needed to press but in the end it was a simple thought of the Oude Kert that set the bright white light upon them and they quickly found themselves back in the church; a bit disorientated but they were getting used to the sensation. Watching Daniel's retreating form Sam called out to him. "Daniel!"

Daniel turned around at hearing his name, "Jack, Sam what just happened?" Daniel asked confused.

"We found it." Jack said, nonchalantly.

"Really? But you weren't gone more than - How? Who left it?" Daniel started to babble.

"Daniel calm down. Yes, we found it. The Great Master left it. How long have we been gone?" Jack asked. To him it felt like they had been gone for days but the state of the surrounding area showed no change from what Jack had remembered.

"Really! What was there? How did you get..." as if remembering there was another question Daniel stopped mid thought. "Uh, you were gone no more than a few minutes."

"Really, there must be a time distortion field down there, Jack we have to get back to my lab and get my instruments. This is facina…" Sam started excitedly.

Daniel simultaneously was interjecting questions of what happened, "What did you see? How much stuff was down there? What about the other sites-"

"Ah." Jack said, interrupting them both as he put his hand out in a shushing fashion. "We have plenty of time to talk and to tinker around with the new stuff. Let's update Landry and go from there." Jack said as he walked towards the exit of the church; ignoring the two babbling scientists behind him.

The End!

* * *

A/N: Round of applause to my awesome beta Wendy; though she doesn't believe me she _IS_ awesome.  
This is the end thanks to those that reviewed faithfully.  
Read and review; would like to know your thoughts on the end (good, bad, indifferent I will take them all.) 


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